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Pressure mounts on interim manager Igor Tudor after Tottenham are beaten 5-2 by Atletico Madrid in action-packed Champions League last-16 first leg at the Metropolitano Spurs concede four in 14 minutes in the first half but recover in second half to keep tie alive Goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky was replaced in the 17th minute after two errors Former Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson says Tudor's decision was "selfish" and "it will be soul-destroying for Kinsky", while Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel says the substitution has "destroyed Kinsky's career" Atletico manager Diego Simeone says he had "never seen anything like it" before Is Tudor's Spurs reign almost up after only four games? asks chief football writer Phil Mc Nulty Get Involved: Send us your thoughts after another nightmare night for Tottenham Written by Craig Nelson, Millie Sian & Huzaifah Khan. Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham Joe Hart Former Tottenham goalkeeper on TNT Sports To get to his [Antonin Kinsky's] level, to sign and play for Tottenham - one mistake does not alter you. You can't afford to let it alter you as a goalkeeper. Click 'Get Involved' to have your say I don't know what all the fuss is about. Kinsky was having an unfortunate nightmare, but sadly, unlike the outfield players, it's the position where you just can't keep him on. Stop bullying the manager. People all wondering if Kinsky will recover, but what about Tudor? He's also got feelings. Robert Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham John Murray BBC football correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live Honestly, I don't know if I've ever seen anything quite like the first 23 minutes of what happened in the Metropolitano last night. The feeling was it might not go well for Tottenham, but they'd be in touch for the second leg at home in London. The first 20 minutes or so they were completely blown away. It was mistake after slip after error after mistake. And Atletico Madrid just scored goals after goal after goal after goal, so that was one thing. But to substitute the goalkeeper, 22-year-old Antonin Kinsky, which had been Igor Tudor's big call to play in the Champions League for Tottenham for the first time. And yes, he made two of the slips which led to two of the three goals scored at that time, but to substitute him off, I honestly can't remember seeing anything like that before. He came running off the field. I saw two or three of his team-mates came over to him as he came off the field, and Tudor, his manager who made the call to play him, stood on the edge of the coaching area, and there was no interaction between the two at all. We were staggered. Click 'Get Involved' to have your say Didn't Atletico win 4-0 at home against Barcelona in a recent Spanish Cup game to then almost throw it away by losing 3-0 in the second leg? As bad as they've been, I don't think Spurs are yet out of it. Stranger things have happened in football. Rikin Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham Paul Robinson referred to concerns over the form of Tottenham's number one goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario as the trigger for Igor Tudor to start Antonin Kinsky ahead of him at Atletico Madrid - a decision that he accepted backfired. Vicario had started the majority of Tottenham's domestic and European games so far this season, but was dropped by Tudor on Tuesday night following recent poor performances. The Italian shot-stopper had started all three games under the club's new interim head coach. However, Vicario conceded nine goals in those opening three fixtures, with defeats to Arsenal, Fulham and Crystal Palace starting Tudor's reign. It was for that reason the boss decided to switch things up in-between the sticks at the Estadio Metropolitano. Speaking pre-match, Tudor was tight-lipped on his decision: “I chose today what I think is best for the team in this moment. This is the first XI for today. There is also the second game [in this tie], so there is space for everyone. " Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham Paul Robinson Former Tottenham goalkeeper on BBC Radio 5 Live He's [Igor Tudor] making decisions that he maybe thinks is going to one, keep him in a job, or two, keep Tottenham in the Premier League and performances are going to turn around. It was a very selfish decision [to substitute Antonin Kinsky in the 17th minute] as a manager. Actually, when you rewind the clock, I think he brought Kinsky in tonight because [Guglielmo] Vicario has been poor. Vicario has made errors that have led to goals and he has cost Tottenham points in the league, of late. I think he brought Kinsky in tonight thinking that if he does well I have got an excuse to keep him in now until the end of the season. He reverted on that decision very, very early on in the game. I have never seen that in my playing career, in my broadcasting career, I have never seen a manager substitute a goalkeeper so obviously because of the mistakes that he made. It's quite blatantly for self preservation by the manager because it was a decision that he thought was best for him and his team at the time, without consideration for the young goalkeeper. We asked you whether or not you felt substituting Antonin Kinsky in the 17th minute was the right thing to do. At the last count, 300 gave Igor Tudor's decision the thumbs up, with 510 the thumbs down. .. That followed a universal reaction against the decision by former Premier League goalkeepers - David de Gea, Peter Schmeichel, Joe Hart and Paul Robinson. Click the 'Get Involved' button to have your say Spurs fans all over complain about Vicario, for the manager to finally hand another keeper a chance. How on Earth is he to blame for Kinsky performing like that? Subbing him off was the correct decision because his head had clearly gone. Damage limitation for what was only getting worse! Luis, London Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham After the game, Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone was asked whether he had ever seen anything like Antonin Kinsky being hauled off after just 17 minutes. "No, I hadn’t seen that at a professional level, " Simeone told reporters. "It’s not my problem, it's theirs, their coach's and the goalkeeper's, and we’re focused on ourselves, not on someone else’s decision-making. " Click the 'Get Involved' button to have your say As a neutral, this was a sad night for Spurs. Taking the keeper off after 17 mins was bad enough, but to completely blank him as he walked down the tunnel was terrible management. Kinsky's only human but Tudor treated him like a commodity that can be just disposed of. Jon, West Sussex I think some of the conversation around the substitution is really strange. Kinsky was out of his depth and keeping him on might have meant it was 6-0 at half-time. This is professional sport. The decision to start him and the lack of support when subbed though, that was appalling. Netanel, Edgware Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham Antonin Kinsky had just five touches during his 17 minutes on the pitch in Tottenham's 5-2 defeat at Atletico Madrid. Two of those five touches were slips or miss-kicks that led to Atletico goals. The Czech Republic international almost picked the ball out of the net more times than he had touches in open play after conceding three times before being replaced by Guglielmo Vicario. So was Igor Tudor right to substitute him so early in the game? Click thumbs up for yes, thumbs down for no. .. Click the 'Get Involved' button to have your say I understand some of the negative feelings towards Tudor hauling off Kinsky, but the flipside is, do you leave him on to concede even more, crush his and your team's confidence even further? It was a damage limitation of an experiment gone wrong. Stuart I'm on Tudor's side when it comes to Kinksy. Vicario has been underperforming, so was dropped, but in taking Kinksy off, he saved him from further embarrassment of conceding many more goals. Reminds me of when Leeds took off Rachubka after 30 minutes in 2011 due to being 3-0 down. Dom, Oxford Click the 'Get Involved' button to have your say Tudor's treatment of a young keeper is a disgrace. He has come in and made everything worse, no consistency in selection and draining the players of confidence. He should never have been allowed anywhere near our club and he should leave as soon as possible. James, London Starting Kinsky showed that Tudor has no idea what he is doing regarding player management. He put Kinsky and Spurs in a needless, embarrassing situation. To not console Kinsky when subbed was unprofessional and unforgivable. The board will stick with Tudor as they've no idea either! Kernow, Cornwall Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham Tottenham's interim manager Igor Tudor spoke at length after the match about why he chose to start Antonin Kinsky ahead of regular number one Guglielmo Vicario, and why he felt substituting the young goalkeeper after just 17 minutes was the right thing to do. Click the play icon below to watch Tudor's post-match interview. .. This video can not be played Click the 'Get Involved' button to have your say Even for non-Spurs fans, the situation has moved from funny to actually just sad. Seeing a manager destroy a young lad’s career and confidence in real time was a very tough watch. Hope he can recover from it. Marcus, London Craig Nelson BBC Sport reporter Right, we asked you for your thoughts on another low in what is fast becoming a sorry season for Tottenham. With chance of progression in the Champions League looking slim, focus will quickly return to their battle against relegation from the top flight. Spurs are 16th in the Premier League, just one point above the bottom three. Igor Tudor was handed the task of steering the club away from trouble following the sacking of Thomas Frank, but, after four defeats in four games, Tottenham's position has gotten worse rather than better under his charge. Questions are now being raised as to why the Croat was appointed until the end of the season and whether he will even last that long in his interim position. Needless to say, you have have not held back with your opinions, coming up is a cross-section. .. Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham For the record, Guglielmo Vicario conceded five minutes after replacing Antonin Kinsky as Atletico stormed into a 4-0 lead by the 22nd minute. Thankfully for Tottenham, the goals did not continue to flow at the same rate for the rest of the match. Spurs defender Pedro Porro reduced the deficit by half-time. And while Atletico's former Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez made it 5-1 with his second goal of the game early in the second half, Tottenham striker Dominc Solanke scored 14 minutes from time to reduce the deficit to three goals. Despite that, Tottenham now face an uphill task to turn it around in the second leg of this Champions League last-16 tie on 18 March. Click the 'Get Involved' button to have your say The Spurs hierarchy are entirely to blame. Poor club management when it comes to ambition, player recruitment, and head coach chopping and changing. No stability, no plan, no sense. Amit, London The club is being killed in front of our very eyes and no-one at the helm seems to either care or be able to arrest the slide. It makes me sad. Del, Norfolk Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham Igor Tudor had a fair bit to say about his decision to take off 22-year-old Antonin Kinsky just 17 minutes into his second start of the season in his post-match interviews. Here's what the interim Tottenham head coach said: Atletico Madrid 5-2 Tottenham So what happened to prompt Igor Tudor's unusually early substitution? Well, Tottenham's interim manager made the surprise move of bringing in Antonin Kinsky for regular first-team stopper Guglielmo Vicario for the first leg of their Champions League tie at Atletico Madrid. Vicario had been criticised for a number of below-par displays, conceding nine goals in three consecutive defeats in Tudor's first three games in charge as head coach. Kinsky, a 22-year-old Czech Republic international, who signed for Tottenham from Slavia Prague in a deal worth about £12. 5m in January 2025, was trusted to help shore up the side's leaky defence. He last started a game for Spurs in October, and was making just his 13th appearances for the club, but conceded three goals in the opening 15 minutes at the Metropolitano Stadium. Here is how Kinsky's nightmare night unfolded: Copyright © 2026 BBC. 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